Ex-Lightning forward Eric Perrin had a helper in JYP's 5-2 thumping of HIFK. HIFK features former Lightning draft picks Eero Somervuori and Erikki Rajamaki, who were both scoreless in the match. JYP leaps out of the basement over 3 teams into 11th on the SM-liiga table with the win. They face SaiPa on Tuesday.

Why do I hate it when 18 year old Russians stay in the KHL rather than coming to North America to develop? This is why. Nikita Kucherov was scoreless and -1 in a sparing 4:59 of ice time in CSKA's 2-1 shootout loss to Spartak. Young players need to play to get better. Period. CSKA faces Novosibirsk next on Sunday. Here's hoping Kucherov actually gets some ice time.

Riku Helenius did not play in last place JYP's 5-2 loss to Assat. Former Lightning prospect Radek Smolenak had a pair of goals for Assat in the win and is now second in the SM-liiga in goals and tops in the Finnish league in goals with 5.

Nikita Nesterov's mini-cold streak continues, from an offensive standpoint, but he got back on the plus side of the ledger in Chelyabinsk Jr.'s 3-1 victory over Ufa Jr. Chelyabinsk Jr. gets Togliatti's junior team on Friday.